Editorials Editorials and Letters to the Editor are posted and archived on JN Online: www.detroitjewishnews.com A Political Travesty S enator Spencer Abraham's stonewalling of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Helene White's nomination to a federal appellate judgeship is an example of - politics at its worst. Abraham's treatment of White, politically speaking, is a travesty of justice, especially since the post she would fill has been open since 1995. White's is one of 85 of President Bill Clin- ton's nominations, 65 at the federal level, twist- ing in the political wind blowing on Capitol Hill. Abraham is Michigan's junior senator and a Republican Party torchbearer who, in this instance, has proven he can't rise above partisan politics to keep a key federal court working at peak capacity. A Detroit resident, "White has served as a state appellate judge since 1993. Her credentials and reputation are impeccable; even Abraham con- cedes that. Still, her bid for a lifetime seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals/Sixth Circuit lingers; her appointment would be the first for a Jew in more than 40 years. The Cincinnati-based cir- cuit serves four states, including Michigan. The problem is that even though Abraham finally blue-carded White's nomination, which Michigan's Democratic Senator Carl Levin did long ago, he didn't include a recommenda- tion. The blue card should have paved the way for a hearing before the Republican-con- trolled Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Abraham is a member, but his lack of a rec- ommendation effectively short-circuited it. No Republican is going to perch on a biparti- IN FOCUS san limb if White's own senator won't. Abraham should explain why he doesn't sup- port the nomination, and be strong enough to bear the political fallout, or give his okay so a committee hearing can be held and a Senate confirmation vote taken. Abraham reportedly is upset over the lack of cooperation by the Clinton administration in floating the nomination — and is holding White a political hostage. We can appreciate a good political battle. But using a judicial seat as a political pawn for 3 1/2 years? How fair is that from a senator elected to represent our nation's best interests. Let's be clear: We don't think antisemitism is imbedded in Abraham's actions. His record includes ecumenical service. But we're aghast that Abraham would leave the White nomination in limbo, indefinitely, in hopes that a Republican becomes president and takes control of federal court appoint- ments. The Sixth Circuit, one level below the U.S. Supreme Court, serves Michigan and three other states with 16 judges, but a quarter of the seats are vacant. White's pending seat has been empty so long, the Judicial Conference of the United States has declared it a judicial emergency. Michiganians should be incensed that one of their senators won't stand up and be counted on Judge White's nomination, or won't at least bring it to a hearing. Since he's up for re-election himself this year, we think Senator Abraham would want to show- case his statesmanship rather than his political pettiness. ❑ Memory Bound Committee member Susie Citrin, chairwoman Terran Leemis and committee member Sandy Danto display a page from the Book of Life at a signing event on May 25. More than 100 endowment fund donors and 50-year contributors to the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's Annual Cam- paign have shared their family memories in the Book of Life. The book, created by the Jewish Federation and its banking/real estate arm, the United Jewish Foundation, rec- ognizes those who have generously supported the community over the years. Each inscribed page includes an individual's or family's thoughts that will become part of the community's archive. Stay Cool T he Mideast suddenly seems a more intractable place than it was a month ago. A week ago, a majority of the members of the Israeli parliament, Knesset, voted in effect to put their jobs at risk in early elections, with the largest number of votes coming from the Barak coalition's supposed partner, Shas. Then last Satur- day came word of the death of Hafez al-Assad, Syria's 30-year tyrant, long considered the key player for any meaningful peace agreement with the states on Israel's north. Those events followed the hasty IDF withdrawal that ended an 18-year occupation of a nine-mile-wide strip of south Lebanon, a Palestinian protest of surpris- ing violence and leaks suggesting that the Jordan Valley settlements and maybe even parts of Jerusalem itself might be turned over to Yasser Arafat's Palestinian state-to-be. It is as if the players, the rules and the game itself suddenly had been overturned. The question of American Jews is what they Related story: page 20 should make of the upheaval. Our answer, for now, is to stay cool and think long-range. It may seem dangerously volatile now, but the fundamentals that will lead to a more secure, stronger Israel have not changed any more than has the need of the Arab neighbors to stabilize their faltering societies by writing an enforceable plan with the only economy that could mean anything to them — Israel. And that means that Americans, Jewish or not, ought to continue to work patiently to coax those parties into substantive talks. That is not to say that there are no problems. American Jews, Zionist or not, have every reason to think that Shas should be ashamed of itself. When it agreed to be a coalition partner, it agreed to abide by certain rules of political behavior that include keeping your word. In putting the short-term financing for its troubled school system ahead of the national need to give the prime minister the support he needs to be an effective negotiator, Shas declared that it does not understand or honor democratic principles. We hope that, should elections be called soon, Israeli voters will loudly and effectively demonstrate to Shas that its behavior is not acceptable. That Assad's death means shelving the Israeli strategy of trying to get Assad and Arafat in a bid- ding war for peace terms is regrettable. And the nation probably will have to accept the temporary pain of Hezbollah's trash talking about the outcome in south Lebanon. So we will have to wait a bit for the temporary instabilities to dampen down before we can expect Israel to be able to talk effectively with the Palestinians. In the meantime, however, we should remember that we on this side of the world cannot impose peace terms on the Mideast; the states themselves must accept conditions that they see are in their best interest. Our best bet — expressed through our overseas giving and our political and service agencies — is to remain supportive of those programs that make Israel militarily and financially more secure and that encourage a true democratic pluralism. Israel will be better knowing that we still love it and that we do not despair. ❑ 6/16 2000 31